Founded by Academy-Award® winning actor and advocate Geena Davis in 2004, The Institute is the first research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate, and influence content creators, marketers and audiences about the importance of eliminating unconditional bias, highlighting gender balance, challenging stereotypes, creating role models and scripting a wide variety of strong female characters in entertainment and media that targets and influences children ages 11 and under. The Institute is also the only organization employing the GD-IQ tool to create systemic change in entertainment media content creation.

Whats the Issue

Twelve years ago, Geena Davis observed a severe gender disparity in children’s media. In the 21st Century, women and girls are 51% of the population, entertainment media has always been bereft of female representation on screen; a ratio of approximately 3:1.

These research facts were not discovered until Geena pioneered the largest research study on gender depictions in children’s entertainment media.

We’re showing children at the youngest age that woman and girls do not take up half the space and do not have the same value and importance as men and boys.

Why it matters?

Children are engaging with media up to 7 hours a day, and consuming massive amounts of unconscious bias in the programming they’re consuming.

Media can greatly influence children’s social and cultural behaviors and beliefs.

Negative stereotypes they see in media can create life-long imprints which can affect their attitudes toward male and female roles in our society as well as career occupations and self-esteem.

What is our solution?

We are the only research-driven organization collaborating within the media and entertainment industry to expose gender imbalance, identify unconscious bias and creatively remodel content to achieve gender equity.

GD-IQ is a revolutionary machine learning media measurement tool that incorporates audio and visual processing technologies to analyze massive amounts of media content in real-time. Launched in September 2016, the GD-IQ can calculate content analysis detail with a level of accuracy that eludes human coders. It pushes the boundaries of how we identify the imbalance of the representation of specific demographics and stereotypes in media.

Our Impact

The Institute is the go-to resource and thought leader on gender in media for over a decade. Our expertise has prompted significant change in messaging at major networks, studios, production companies, guilds and agencies. For example, GDI has:

Influenced significant gender portrayal in leading content such as Family Films Inside Out, Hotel Transylvania, The Little Prince, Equity and TV Shows Empire and DocMcStuffins.

Our SmartBrief newsletter publishes breaking news, trends, research and insights on Gender in Media from around the world.

68% of entertainment industry executives familiar with the Institute’s research changed 2 or more projects, 41% changed 4 or more projects. Changes included aspirations/occupations of female characters, their dialogue, story development or an increase in female characters. Review our Impact Study.

The Institute’s research are frequently cited in major media outlets and programs including The New York Times, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, FOX News, Good Morning America, The Jimmy Kimmel Show, The Washington Post, USA Today, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and MSNBC, accumulating over 1 billion audience impressions with a potential media value of over $10 million. (Source: Nielsen Net Ratings).

For more than a century, the people of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®, pronounced “simp-tee”) have sorted out the details of many significant advances in media and entertainment technology, from the introduction of “talkies” and color television to HD and UHD (4K, 8K) TV. Since its founding in 1916, the Society has received an Oscar® and multiple Emmy® Awards for its work in advancing moving-imagery engineering across the industry. SMPTE has developed thousands of standards, recommended practices, and engineering guidelines, more than 800 of which are in force today. SMPTE Time Code and the ubiquitous SMPTE Color Bars are just two examples of the Society’s notable work. Now in its second century, the Society is shaping the next-generation of standards and providing education for the industry to ensure interoperability as the industry evolves further into IT- and IP-based workflows.

SMPTE’s global membership today includes more than 7,000 members: motion-imaging executives, creatives, technologists, researchers, and students who volunteer their time and expertise to the Society’s standards development and educational initiatives. A partnership with the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) connects SMPTE and its membership with the businesses and individuals who support the creation and finishing of media content.

Matthew has worked in both the private sector and in higher education for over twenty years. He specializes in the areas of digital media project management, broadcast engineering and media production. Matthew has extensive knowledge in digital post production, digital asset management, digital cinema production, and broadcast facility integration. Mr. Harchick actively researches state of the art broadcast, cutting edge digital cinema and smart audio visual technologies for client implementation and is available for your consultation needs.

Matt and his family currently reside in the Washington, D.C metro area.

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